This year’s theme, Wetlands and Traditional Knowledge: Celebrating Cultural Heritage, highlights the deep connections between wetlands and people, and calls for immediate action to protect these ecosystems as important ecological and cultural assets for current and future generations.
Wetlands are fundamental to global food security and nutrition. These are the basis of inland and coastal fisheries and aquaculture, and supply water for crops and livestock production. These are also the basis for the production of main foods, especially in man-made wetlands, such as paddy fields and ponds that are built by traditional knowledge that has been going on for generations.
Wetlands provide critical ecosystem services, which are essential for agri-food systems, including water purification, flood control, groundwater recharge, carbon storage and waste disposal, which are essential for climate resilience, food security and rural livelihoods.
In addition, it emphasizes the urgent need to protect, restore and sustainable use of wetlands while giving importance to traditional knowledge as a cornerstone for ecosystem restoration, climate resilience and agri-food systems, which is in line with the United Nations Ecosystem Restoration Decade (2021-2030) .
Wetlands are among the ecosystems that have the highest rates of decline, loss and erosion. Due to current negative trends in global biodiversity and ecosystem functions, there is a process of positive thinking of intensive brainstorming on direct and indirect factors, such as rapid human population growth, unstable production and consumption and related technological developments, as well as the circumstances resulting from the adverse effects of climate change.
Wetlands are disappearing three times faster than forests and are Earth’s most threatened ecosystem. In just 50 years – since 1970 – 35% of the world’s wetlands have been destroyed. Human activities responsible for the degradation of wetlands include drainage and logging for agriculture and construction, pollution, excessive fishing and over-exploitation of resources, invasive species, and climate change.
This vicious cycle of wetland degradation, livelihood threats and increasing poverty is the result of the misconception of seeing wetlands as wasteland, while these are considered a life-giving source of employment, income and essential ecosystem services. One major challenge is to bring about a change in mindset so that governments and communities value wetlands and prioritize them.
The sacrifice of hundreds of people to save the Khejri tree in Rajasthan, rearing blackbucks, worshipping trees like God, etc. are powerful examples of this.
Let us all together take positive effective initiatives to save, groom, conserve these wetlands and for a better future for the future of future generations…